Look not thee to the world for thine own fulfillment

Look not thee to the world for thine own fulfillment
Let not the idle tongue of man be thy initiative
For frail and feeble are their follies
They flounder from far and wide

There is a dismal trace of dillusion
That ere yet captures thee
The portrait is cracked and crumbling
And minions are mumbling
Of thy undoing

All desire affection
Yet upon its collection
Perfection is fleeting
And jealous they
Deceiving 

For all their heart's desire
And yet require
Tis all of vanity 
This thing of humanity

None shall attain
This world of gain
The cost too great
The price too high

Twere better instead
To die
For all their deeds
Shall scarce remain
When all their fame
Is gone

-Joshua Lee Foist

Sit quiet and idle I

Sit quiet and idle I
In a company that do deny
Hypocritical am I
And they as I

Yet try as I
Canst seem to tread
This path I dread
Of sickness am fed

Deep beneath the surface
A cancer yet grows
And each one knows
Still the masquerade of woes
Erodes the accurate analysis

How long must the fungus
Ferment this merriment
When shall the scars
Shed their scales
And reveal
The wound as real

Each is not without excuse
Ere it a verbal or emotional
abuse
A portrait obtuse
To distract itself

From lies well hidden
In a shroud forbidden
Seen by a precious few
The rue that cannot be true
Yet is

When shall we
Be as we really are
Naked, hemorrhaging and rank

And worse it is real
For no fiction
Can scarce remove
This infliction

It must be removed
From without
And within
This sin
That devours
And erupts
Under our skin

Can only be killed
And revealed in full
By one in complete
Control

And we must bear it
We must let
The healing ravish us
To humility
And awe

For we are far worse
Than we think we are
And more loved
Than ere we ever can know

If only we would learn
At last to let go
Before the hours
And moments
Should pass

Alas at this
Shall we betray
With a kiss

Or repent
And believe
Shall leave
This life
We grieve

In anguish
In shame
In glory
Proclaim

Tis finished
Tis done
Release
The son

-Joshua Lee Foist

There is a great noise in the void

There is a great noise in the void
Of mind and men
Mesmerizingly manipulative
It seethes through the soul
Like a sycophant out of control
Sucking all life in its full

Anxiety overloads
The imagination explodes
In the possibilities
The terrors of all existence
Devouring all reality
In its presence

Yet deep in the pit of this despair
There is something out there
Something amidst the chaos
Unscathed by all that's around

It tears through the layers of deceit
And causes all to melt away
Like vapor dissipating
Under its feet

Nothing can overcome it

And slowly breath
Gives birth to breath
And breathes through
This existence

It yearns in its repentance
To join this new resistance
The victor is near
He comes to quench all fear

Now is the hour
Comes haste he to devour
All dread and despair
For all who do not draw near

Come quick then to join him
For he shall surely
Carry thee under his wing
And safe and secure thee
To his kingdom bring

-Joshua Lee Foist

In this momentry bliss

In this momentry bliss
I am lost in the wonder
Of your welcoming kiss
The sweet joyous surrender
In the autumn of november

There is a taste in the air
Fluttering leaves a'falling
Colours of red and amber
In a sunset scene

Lost in a mesmerizing dream
A moment suspended in part
The wonders of thy glorious art
Yet a taste so sweet and tender

Of a world once known
And yet still shown
In these breathes of bounty
Where one wishes never to leave

Still deep in my melancholy heart
There is a joy that cannot be tamed
In an hour yet known
Or wonders yet seen

Shall awake as one lost in a dream
Of something long ago
Once familiar
Now returned

And ever shall be
A world of mystery
Revealed
Once winter's wonders
Have ceased

Come spring
And joyous dawn
The dew of which
We look upon

The day forevermore
When at once
Walk we through
That open door

The journey ended
Reunion sweet
When at last
Our lifelong love
Shall meet

-Joshua Lee Foist

The Winds are Changing in Ways I know not Where

The Winds are Changing in Ways I know not Where
The airs of innocence elude me
Their ominous shroud encircles me

The dying and the old world once new
Now drift all they from view
Once romantic were they the warmth of their touch
We waltzed in the wonders of winter's affair

Yet no longer are the days most rare
The sun is cold upon my skin
The wintered wind that brushes in
Chills to the bone

And I all alone
Must endure this eerie silence

Who can know the heart that softly beats
The hunger and the pain
The moments that remain
Scars that sear with every tear

How long the waiting
For what may yet come again
Is this the end of things
Or the beginning

Of once known now ending
Could hope yet be
Waiting in wonder
Just beyond the dusk and thunder

If only the chill
Would warm again
The rain would cleanse
And find thy fondest friends

Oh days without number
In a world of wonder
Where all is made new
When things come steadily into view

Perchance the pain
Is on the path
That leads to pleasure
That which is found in thy greatest treasure
Of wonders without measure
When all things pass away
Into the dismal gray
And light and life anew
Shine through the morning dew

-Joshua Lee Foist


*Inspire in part from Philip Glass's Violin Concerto

To this unbridled bliss I do depart

To this unbridled bliss I do depart
How wondrous thy glorious works of art
Mine eye sits in awe as I gaze
Upon the evening starry host

Of whom shall I boast
Such glory and grandeur behold
And they are of old
Yet thy origin are sure

A mere glimpse of the glory
That lies beyond
Of galaxies unseen
Of beauty beyond compare

For that which awaits
Far beyond one's field of view
In the softness of the morning dew
Or the dawning of the early morn

Thy glory doth adorn
All thy great perfection
Of all thy grand design
A part of which inherit is mine

Yet thine alone the praise
Tis all thy own
And doth in me amaze
A world of wonder

Though men would plunder
Yet, still it cannot lose
Complete its richness
Sweet

For though there is a brokenness
Thy greatest art
Is found in this

Thy own dear son
Who came to earth
In humble birth
His greatest worth

Was found upon a crooked cross
Where all his loss
Our greatest gain
For all who'd call upon his name

Of all the richest glories give
This one alone that we might live
Yet in thy greatest gift doth lie
Thou conquered death it did defy

For King of Kings
Creator lives
And spreads his wings
To heaven brings

His new found lambs
Ne'er lost a'more
Forgiveness found
In faith hath crowned

A life anew
With thee
And true
Forever and beyond
All time

-Joshua Lee Foist

At 28

At 28 the life we wanted
Has it now come
Or gone to late

At 28 the things we tried
The lessons learned
If it should be our fate

At 28 as we look ahead
To the dreams our lifelong have fed
How long must we wait

At 28 what goals shall we set
In a year where shall we be
Will the way be straight

At 28 when all has passed us by
Shall we look back and say
Those days were great

-Joshua Lee Foist